Race 3 - December 30: Women

Van den Brand exploits Vos' salto

Daphny van den Brand sneaked away with her fifth win at the Azencross in Loenhout
after the lead group of four top favourites split apart in the final lap. Marianne
Vos (Team DSB Bank) took herself out of contention for the win by doing a salto,
a flip through the air, in the last lap. Shortly thereafter, World Champion
Hanka Kupfernagel lost her rhythm on the washboard while Katie Compton (Spike)
found herself sitting too far back in the group to stick with Van den Brand
in the end.

"It's been a while since my last victory here [2004] so it was about time
to win again," Van den Brand smiled. "Finally my form gets going.
I scheduled my season differently this year and I should be in top form at the
world championships," Van den Brand said.

"After the washboard section, I went to the front. I knew I had to try
something in the next technical zone in order to avoid the sprint. I went hard
through the corners and suddenly I heard the speaker shouting something about
Vos. I didn't dare to look, but a few moments later I saw that there was a gap,"
winner Van den Brand said.

Compton had the best view on the action behind Van den Brand during the last
lap, and she explained to Cyclingnews what happened. "Actually it
looked quite funny," she said while having trouble not laughing. "Vos
went over the handlebars while Hanka got by, but then she crashed a little later.
That's when I took off," Compton explained how she got her second place
in Loenhout. Yet, the US National Champion didn't feel like the race was a tough
one. "It felt like a slow race to be honest."

Vos sat perfectly on the wheel of Van den Brand, but her mistake cost her
victory in Loenhout. "I jumped back on the bike after the stairs but couldn't
get hold of the bike," Vos explained how she ended up making a spectacular
salto in the finale of the race in Loenhout. "After that, Hanka hit the
washboard too hard, and I could not get past her again."

Before that spectacular last lap, the speed in the leader's group had dropped
and as a result, riders like Rachel Lloyd, Wendy Simms and Melchers were able
to catch up.

Simms was one of the first to get dropped in the finale when her chain snapped.
The Canadian champion was forced to run back the opposite way toward the pit
in order to get a new bike. "It made more sense to run back," Simms
said. "At the start I was just off the back and before making it to the
front, I had been dangling a bit. Rachel [Lloyd] took up the chase and got us
back, but in the end it was clear that the top-four controlled the race,"
Simms said.